The invention relates generally to recycling of stale bread that has been returned to a bakery. In the baking industry, stale bread is made into crumbs or croutons, and then sold in packages as a bread supplement to foods. In the past, the removal of the wrapper from the stale bread has been a hand operation involving considerable time and labor.
Automatic machinery has been developed in the packaging industry for opening bags of free flowing or particulate material, or for the opening of cartons. There are no known machines for removing the wrapper from loaves of bread. The existing machines for opening bags of free flowing or particulate material are totally unsuited for opening loaves of bread and removing the bread from their wrappers. Wrapped loaves of bread have special characteristics which make it extremely difficult for handling and unwrapping. A wrapped loaf of bread is light, soft, and the wrapping material is generally clingy, making it difficult to be completely separated from the bread. These and other difficulties associated with the removal of bread wrappers from loaves of bread have been obviated by the present invention.
It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a method of separating the wrapper and bread from a wrapped loaf of bread which greatly facilitates the process.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a method of unwrapping bread which enables automatic machinery to be used to carry out the process.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of automatic machinery for carrying out the method of the present invention.
It is another object of the instant invention to provide automatic bread unwrapping machinery which conveys wrapped loaves of bread, separates the wrappers from the loaves and conveys the wrappers and bread separately to separate disposal points.
A still further object of the present invention is the provision of automatic unwrapping machinery which will handle sealed loaves of bread, as well as wrapped loaves of bread in which the seal has been broken.
It is a further object of the invention to provide automatic machinery for unwrapping bread which is simple in construction, which is inexpensive to manufacture, which is mechanically reliable, and which is capable of a long life of useful service with a minimum of maintenance.
It is a further object of the invention to provide automatic bread unwrapping machinery in which the wrapper is under positive control throughout the process of separating the wrapper from the bread.
It is a further object of the invention to provide automatic bread unwrapping machinery in which the wrapper is maintained under positive control after separation of the wrapper and bread until final disposition of the wrapper.
With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.